wondering what to do - ADD / ADHD Message Board

dadwhocares · 06-21-2004, 03:26 PM

I have a 10 year old son who was placed on Ritalin at the age of 4 because his mother practically begged the doctor. We were freshly separated and she thought he was too much to handle. For the record, I disagreed! My son is currently taking 72mg of concerta per day and 15mg of zyprexa. His mother sends the medicine over in a sample zyprexa bottle. I recently called my son's physician to talk to her about son and received a call from her nurse. I need to say that my ex is also a RN and I had a feeling that they would call her before doing anything for me, I was right! I asked for a copy of my sons medical records and was treated rather roodly. I called the doctor on another day and again asked for the doctor but was once again intercepted by the nurse and she wanted to know what I wanted to know about my son. I told her that I need to know what dosage had been prescribed for my son and she said 54mg per day then as if she thought about it for a minute she then said he takes two 36mg pills a day. I have him every weekend and last weekend we forgot to give him his medication and he was more calm than usual. This past weekend I only gave him one pill since I have no written dosage to go by and again he was calmer that when he takes two pills. Should a child be taken off of the medication and re evaluated.

WILDDCHILDD75 · 06-23-2004, 05:45 PM

i have 2 of my own who have adhd. if you think your son needs an eval. the schools can do some of the test to see if they think the child needs extra help. also you could try going into the dr. office and ask them in person for the medical records. if they don't want to help the only other things i can think of is if you can get your son for a week or 2 over the summer make him an appointment with mental health and talk with them about your questions. if your ex is as hard to deal (like mine) you may have to take things through the courts. but if you feel he doesn't need the meds. take him to a dr. express your concerns and start from there.

msmars5188 · 06-23-2004, 11:32 PM

I'm no doctor or anything but that sounds like A LOT of concerta for a 10 year old kid. I'm not even on that high of a dose, and I'm older and (i assume) that i weigh more than your son. Maybe its just me but i find that somewhat odd. Best of luck to you.

brainf0g · 06-24-2004, 03:31 AM

If you feel that his diagnosis is an error, have him evaluated again by a pediatric psychiatrist who specializes in AD/HD.

Concerta doses aren't measured by weight. Everyone is different.

dadwhocares · 06-25-2004, 09:33 AM

I signed a release to get his medical records from his current pediatrician over a week ago and still have not received them, however I talked to the nurse at the office where he was going and she told me she didn't understand why his mom stopped taking him there. We both assumed that it was because the doctor would not give my son a higher dosage. I am currently in a court battle and was origonally going for custody but that has changed to shared parenting and they are fighting me all the way. Yesterday I think my ex handed me the smoking gun though and I think I will be able to resolve the issue soon. I am not sure if my son has ever been re evaluated since he was 4 years old and hopefully I will get them for an extended period of time this summer and I will have him re evaluated.